"Colter Bay Serenity" Jackson Lake, WY

"Colter Bay Serenity" 24x18" Oil on canvas

Thanks to all who attended my gallery show last week. We had a great turnout of over 125 people, 6 paintings sold along with 14 of my little blog books. The most common comment I heard all night was how surprised everyone was by how much brighter the paintings are in real life. Guess I need to work on some better reproductions. The painting above was included in the show, the last one from my summer series, or at least for now. I still have lots of photos that I want to paint from but I want to get back to working on some more 6x6" still-lifes.

Dave and I have started planning what highways we can head on down next summer. We'll be taking a new addition along with us, a used 17 ft. canoe.

I am slammed right now with end of the year graphic design work but do plan to carve out time each day to continue painting. I will start auctioning off the new still-lifes on my ebay store over the next few weeks. Click here to view my portfolio www.flickr.com/nancyparsons.

"Morning Reveille"

"Morning Reveille"  18x24" Oil on canvas

This week's painting features another one of the old abandoned trucks that I saw in a campground we stayed at in Santa Fe last summer. Standing alone in an empty field with one broken headlight, reflecting the first rays of the rising sun, this old timer stands tall in his rusty shell saluting the morning sun. It sort of reminds me of one of the war heroes seen hobbling on a cane, or in a wheelchair proudly saluting the flag on Veteran's Day. While this truck was found in Santa Fe, the scenery was taken from a photo I shot in Montana. The quiet stillness of the landscape just seemed to invite the company of this unsung hero. Anybody have any idea what the year and make of my model might be?

Don't forget Head on Down the Highway one-woman-art show starts this week, and runs for three days only, Thurs.-Sat. at The Linda Watson Gallery located at 204 North Main St. here in Conroe. Gallery hours are 8-5 Mon.-Fri., Artist's Reception is Sat. from 6:30 - 9 p.m., with a short reading from my new blog book at 7:00 p.m.  Hope to see you there. Here is a link to the gallery and a map The Linda Watson Gallery

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Nancy Parsons

By Nancy

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Bales of Bounty

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. This painting was taken from a photo I shot in Montana last summer. I have a total love for hay bales! Seeing them scattered neatly about an empty field, makes me reflect on how they mirror our own lives. We are sown from tiny seeds placed on the earth, provided all that we need to grow to fullness and completion. Then, once reaped, fall gently back to the ground to be gathered up into a bountiful harvest. Each bale representing the abundance of a life well lived. I think this painting is appropriate for the season of thanksgiving and a reminder of the blessings and gift of all life.

"Bales of Bounty" 18x24" Oil on canvas

Head on Down t...

Nancy Parsons

By Nancy

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Yellowstone River

"Yellowstone River" 18x24" Oil on canvas

I was so grateful to have recently had my dear friend and accomplished painter, Rene' Wiley of the Rene' Wiley Gallery in Galveston, drop by for a visit and to critique some of my work. It was wonderful to see her and an invaluable experience to have had her well-trained artist's eye, point out some areas for improvement. I was so appreciative and learned much. As an example, "Yellowstone River" above is a new piece that I was working on. After talking with Rene', I ended up cooling the dark hills in the mid ground by graying that area slightly, and also warming the colors in the pine trees in the foreground. Just those two simple temperature adjustments alone really helped to create a greater sense of depth. So now, I am making some additional tweaks to several other pieces. You'll have to come to my show to see the improvements, Dec. 2-4 at The Linda Watson Gallery in Conroe.

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Nancy Parsons

By Nancy

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NEW Book Release

My painting for this week is of a couple of young boys turning rocks over in a beautiful little creek near Jenny Lake. It's close to Jackson Lake, WY, and one of our favorite places that we visited last summer. You can view the painting below. 

I am also including a link to my little blog book. The book contains all the postings, paintings and photos from my Head on Down the Highway Blog. If you click on the cover, you will be able to open the book, enlarge it and read all 120 pages. If you would like a copy, I will also have the books for sale at my art show Dec. 2-4.  

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Nancy Parsons

By Nancy

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"Rock Hunters" 24x18" Oil on canvas

"Wide Open Spaces"

"Wide Open Spaces" 18x24" oil on canvas

The gate is wide open for you to step into another view of Montana's Bear Tooth Mountains, as seen along the road on the way to Red Lodge. I have so many wonderful photos to choose from, it's difficult trying to decide which one to paint next. You can view this painting, along with others from the blog, in my upcoming "Head on Down the Highway" art show, Dec. 2-4. Here's all the details, so mark the dates and get it on your calendar now.

Montana Memories

"Montana Blues" 24x18" oil on canvas

The quality of light and color is so pure and bright in Montana, especially when seen in reflections on the water. Here are the two paintings I worked on this week from photos I snapped on our journey. I am seeing it all in my mind's eye and feeling the warm glow .... I just wish I could have painted them while standing on the shore.

"Cabin Fervor" 7x5" oil on canvas

"Montana Blues" will be a part of my upcoming show Dec. 4th at The Linda Watson Gallery. To view my portfolio click here www.flickr.com/nancyparsons

Hot Off The Palette

"Early Morning Solitude" 18x24" Oil on Canvas

"Pomegranate Promenade" 6x6" Oil on canvas board

"Choose your partners dos ado!" It's the pomegranate and persimmon hoedown, going on inside this little square of a canvas floor. These are the same two persimmons you met in last week's painting. I had more fun this week finding out what they look like on the inside. I have only eaten one other persimmon in my lifetime but it made me pucker something awful. To my surprise and utter delight, these were delicious and sweeter than honey. This painting is up for bid on my eBay Store. If you would like to place a bid click here http://stores.ebay.com/Nancy-Parsons-Oil-Paintings 

Meanwhile, back on down the highway, "Early Morning Solitude" (above) was painted from a photograph I took last summer in Montana. I loved the way this little house/farm was tucked away deep inside rolling hills with the Bear Tooth mountains looming on the horizon. I sure would love to live there. This piece will be included in my upcoming show at The Linda Watson Gallery in Conroe Dec. 2-4. 

To view my entire portfolio click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/nancyparsons

Paintings of the Week

"Quiet Reflections" 24x18" Oil on Canvas

This larger piece, for my upcoming show, was painted from the photo above. I only used a few of the boats that were actually there in order to emphasis the peaceful serenity I felt standing on the pier in the early morning at Jackson Lake. That's the great thing about being an artist you can pick and choose which parts you want to keep and those you want to omit. I just love all the quiet mirror reflections on the water. And next, thank you to my friend Leona, my still-life for this week is a couple of very happy young persimmons "Going into the Chapel of Love"... They make such a handsome couple.

"Chapel of Love" 6x6" oil on canvas board

2 New Paintings

"Montana Fields Ablaze" 18x24" Oil on Canvas

I painted this first one from a photo taken during our summer fun-in-the-sun. The hay fields must have been taking a rest from a recent harvest and had begun sprouting tiny red orange wild flowers that cast a blanket of hue across the land, making it look like it had been stripped bare, rubbed raw and left bleeding like an open scraped wound.

"Cobalt Echoes" 6x6" Oil on Canvas board

Like those crazy Fun Houses we went into as kids, "Cobalt Echoes" reveals mirrored images on the side of a coffee cup. Images that stretch and bend, twist and warp with the refraction of light ... creating reflections... that remind me how distorted and fractured our own vision can be.

To view these images in my portfolio click on www.flickr.com/nancyparsons

Two New Small Paintings

"Afternoon Delight"  5x7" Oil on Board  $100

Here are a couple new small still lifes that I have been working on this week. The glass bottle was so fun to paint, I love the way light reflects and through glass in a mosaic pattern...just spots of color laying next to spots of color.

"Momma Mango"  6x6" Oil on canvas board  $100

When playing around with the mango and limes for this still life, I was struck by how the twin limes could pass for mango babies. Don't they look like they are being fed by a surrogate momma mango?

I am also working on some larger landscapes for my show Dec. 2-4 at the Linda Watson Gallery in Conroe. I am thrilled to report that since our return home on Aug. 15th, 22 paintings have now found their way into new homes.

To view my fine art portfolio www.flickr.com/nancyparsons 

To purchase one of these paintings, e-mail me at njparsons@suddenlink.net

Painting and Poem "Greener Glasses"

 “Greener Glasses” Oil on canvas 6x6"

Sucking on thin cool slices of lemon 

or lime from glasses of iced tea, looking

for a crack in the face of late

September heat, the cooler days of fall

and winter brewing winds, the aroma

of steamy espresso served in dainty

white ceramic cups with matching saucers

sipped on frosty blue mornings, warming

hands while longing for summer

to chase away the chill, slices

of measured time that will again

require another lime.

–Nancy Parsons

I thought I'd try a slightly different approach to my little paintings by also writing a poem about the subject matter of the painting. This is my first attempt at ekphrasis art. I am hoping to include a poem for each painting from now on so the viewer can have a little insight into my inspiration and thoughts about the piece. Hope you enjoy it. 

To view my fine art portfolio www.flickr.com/nancyparsons 

3 NEW PAINTINGS

  

"On Golden Pasture" 7.5x12" Oil on canvas board

Standing in the cool summer shade on Lovers Lane in Absarokee, MT... as if by an invisible magic wand... the late afternoon sun painted a green pasture into a shining sea of wall-to-wall golden carpet right before my very eyes. I couldn't wait to capture this one on canvas.

"The Great and Powerful Oz" 7x5" Oil on canvas

The three cherries in this next painting remind me of the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion as they stand alongside little Dorothy in her blue and white apron. They are all shaking in their boots before the Powerful Oz who has just spoken.  

"Shady Sid of the Shed" 7x5' Oil on canvas

This colorful little shed sits in spotted shade under tall billowy firs at the Fish Camp in Absarokee, MT. An old rusty barrel and a wheelbarrow sit with ears pressed flat up against its wooden sides, listening for the faint soft hum of the shed singing along in time to the chorus of the Rosebud River flowing nearby.

These paintings are now up for bid on my eBay Store. If you would like to place a bid click http://stores.ebay.com/Nancy-Parsons-Oil-Paintings  To view my entire portfolio click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/nancyparsons/?saved=1

RECENT WORKS BY NANCY PARSONS

"In the Lime Light" 5x7" Oil on panel

"Snuggle Up" 10x8" Oil on panel

"Take a Bow" 5x7" Oil on panel

Thought I'd post a few of my recent small paintings of a very showy little red apple and an admiring company of tangerines . I am adding these paintings to the auction posting on my eBay Store at http://stores.ebay.com/Nancy-Parsons-Oil-Paintings I am hoping to start adding a few small paintings every week or so.

If you are interested in bidding on one of the Head on Down the Highway paintings, the auction is closing in another day or two.

If you are sick on being on the highway with me and would just like to get out of this vehicle, stretch your legs, and stop all these blogs, hit this link njparsons@suddenlink.net and simply type "Remove me from the List" in the subject line and I'll drop you off at the next corner... after all I kidnapped you and have been holding you hostage long enough.  : ) 

PAINTINGS FOR SALE ON EBAY

PAINTINGS ARE NOW BEING LISTED FOR SALE ON EBAY

The Linda Watson Gallery is scheduling a show sometime late fall, but my paintings are NOW available for sale on eBay. If you would like to view and/or place a bid, you can get there by clicking on the following link http://stores.ebay.com/Nancy-Parsons-Oil-Paintings?_rdc=1  The painting are being uploaded over the next couple of days, so if you don't see the painting you are interested in check back in tomorrow.

In conjunction with the fall gallery showing, I will be reading excerpts from my blog. At the suggestion of a number of blog followers, I have decided to publish a limited number of signed books from the writings, photos and paintings on the blog. These will be available for purchase at the time of the reading. I will be sending you an invitation in the near future.

Thanks again for all your interest and support.

Nancy Parsons

DAY 45 Home Sweet Home

"Beauty may appear anywhere, at anytime...you just have to be ready for it"

— Kevin Macpherson, Artist

Quicker than I ever imagined possible, our 45 day sabbatical comes to a screeching halt at the end of the highway back in Conroe. From the southern most borders of Texas, to the glaciers of Montana, and with every mile in between, this trip has been a celebration of the beauty found everywhere. I return home now in humble gratitude to our Creator and Father for the richness and abundance of all that surrounds us in this incredible world of wonder, awe, mystery and majesty. The images in my mind and the experiences I have encountered will remain always in my heart to draw upon and paint from in all the years to come.

Thank you to all of you who followed along on this journey. My blog began on a whim as a means to stay in contact with family and friends but quickly took on a life of its own. I had no idea how much fun and pleasure it would be sharing my thoughts, impressions, feelings, photos and paintings. I wonder how many people have been followed along? I know many of you have forwarded the blog link on to friends, and some have even linked this site to other blogs. Dave's computer died several thousand miles back so he has been unable to make any comments but we have both loved hearing from each and everyone of you. Your positive e-mails and comments were the fuel that inspired me on a daily basis to stay true to my mission.

The Linda Watson Gallery here in Conroe, TX has generously offered to do a show of all the painting that I have shown on my blog, prior to posting on ebay. A date has not been set but I will send everyone an invitation to the opening, and will also let you know when the paintings are available on ebay. A number of followers have expressed an interest in certain paintings, if you are interested in any one specific painting, or if you would like a complete list of all the paintings, along with titles, sizes, please send me an e-mail.

My e-mail: njparsons@suddenlink.net
My painting portfolio: View all the Head on Down the Highway Paintings at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nancyparsons/
My website: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

See ya down the highway on our next adventure.

nancy parsons

DAY 44

We drove for 12 hours yesterday across Colorado's cheery sunflower lined highways, passing miles and miles of ten-story tall metal scarecrows waving long slender Mercedes Benz-looking arms in a chorus line performance. These graceful monsters whirled in perfect time as if to some invisible director's wand, standing erect in mute attention, reaping energy from the wind.

Briefly into the northwest corner of Oklahoma, we pass a train with engines hooked at both ends which appeared to be driving backwards. Sunlight, cutting through all the connecting spaces between each of the heavily laden coal cars, created an entertaining dance of flickering light onto the dark shadowed grasses of the hillside below. This light was so dazzling it could be seen for miles. Then on the side of a rocky mount, outside one of the many little towns we passed by, a small white cross and round stones spelled out the words, "St. Mark's Methodist Church" thus giving new meaning to the words, "Upon this rock I will build my church." Let's face it, you have to find something to keep your mind occupied on these long stretches of highway. : ) 

Late in the day we are warmly greeted by the "Welcome to Texas" sign. The sun had now crept lower in the sky ready to begin its magic work of transformation. Seemingly dried-up and dead grasses along the road and in the fields are suddenly painted into deep rich fertile lands accentuated by the lengthening shadows of evening. I stare transfixed, snapping photos right and left, for a stunning recital of the sea of orange, violet, pink, fiery red, golden yellow, deep purple and blue gray clouds that have lined up in a caravan-style procession of light, marching their way to ultimate destruction at the end of the sky...swallowed up into the mouth of night.

Amarillo Sunset

DAY 43

 Yesterday, heading southwest to Red Lodge, we passed through miles of lush verdant meadows, pastures and fields lined with fresh bales of hay.

Bear Tooth Mountains

Road to Red Lodge

Crossing into Wyoming, just south of Thermopolis, we are swept along through the narrow Wind River Canyon with rushing waters dropping off to the side of the road below. A railroad track clung by its iron claws  to the steep walls of the canyon where an occasional rickety old tunnels looked more like mine shafts. This mystical looking portal through the mountains is all part of an Indian Reservation.

Wind River Canyon

Traveling on further into WY, we are shoved along by ferocious winds howling like a ghostly banshee across the endless stretch of wide open prairie. These desolate lands are so stark it could quite effectively be painted with one simple wide stroke of a brush loaded with barren nameless color, only the welcomed sight of vertical lines of telephone poles offered any break to the endless expanse of land and sky. Dry tumbleweed floating and drifting across the road, only added more mystery and stark beauty to the landscape.

Today we are heading back into Colorado and on into Texas as we continue homeward. See ya down the highway.